Vapor-supply system for internal-combustion engines



April 13 1926.

1,580,962 D. L. CHRISTFSQN VAPOR SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION mamas Filed Sept. 19, v 1924 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 1s, 1.926. 1,580,962

- D. L. CHRISTISON VAPOR SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Sept. 19, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES DONALD L. CHRISTISON, OF NE'W YORK, 11'. Y.

VAIPOR-SUPELY SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

A pplioation filed September 19, 1924- Serial No. 738,571.

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD L. Cmus'rr soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VaponSupply Systems for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specificaton.

y This invention relates to a mixing system for the fuel supply to internal combustion engines and particularly to a system for providing an auxiliary supply of water vapor to the mixture.

It has been well established that during normal range of operation of a gas engine it is highly advantageous to have moisture added to the mixture of air and gasolene vapor and since most engines are running with mixtures that are over rich when the motor is at normal running temperature, it is advantageous to have the mixture during this normal. range by auxiliary air or vapor or both. Prior mechanisms for supplying auxiliary air or vapor have either been permanently open even when detrimental to the operation or have depended largely upon the operator to control the supply and to turn'it on and oil as desired. A permanently open auxiliary supply is very objectionable; :for instance, the leaning with mixture by an auxiliary opening makes starting difficult when the engine is cold and lowers the power at large throttle openings and when the engine is running at low speeds. Any hand control of the auxiliary supply is very undependable and the result has been that the auxiliary supply of air and moisture has been off when itshould be on and on when it should be off thus interfering with the proper operation of the motor.

The object of this invention is to provide a system which wil automatically add tho auxiliary supply to the mixture at the right time and shut off said supply whenever the conditions of operation are such as to render the additional air and vapor undesirable.

In the accompanying drawings illustratin" the invention 'g. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the system installe in connection with an automobile engine.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a detail thermostat valve shown in Fig.

Figs. 3, t and 5 are sectional views on lines 3-3, and 5-5 respectively of 'trol means shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a partially sectional view of a control valve shown in Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a pipe conneo tion through the radiator shell.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the system is illustrated in connection with the power unit of a Fordautomobile wherein the engine E receives the fuel mixture through the carburettor C and manifold M. The cooling system comprises a connection 10 from the engine E to the radiator R and a return connection (not shown) from the radiator R to the engine jacket. At the top of the radiator R is an air space A above an overflow pipe 11 leading to the outside air, the

air in this space being heavily charged with vapor.

In the system of this invention a tube 12, 13 leads from this radiator space A to a thermostat control valve T and a tube 14 having a control valve V leads from the thermostat control T to a gasketshaped supply device S between the carburettor C and the manifold M.

In regular operation and with the motor under normal load and the engine warm an auxiliary supply of moisture laden air is drawn in through tubes 12 and 13 and'thermostat control T and tube 14 andvalve V and the supply device S which mixes this vapor with the sup-ply of air and gasolene which is on its way from the carburettor to the engine, the thermostat valve T and the valve V both being open just the right amount for most eflicient operation.

When the engine is cool as for instance at starting the thermostat control '1 will shut oil the connection between tube 13 and tube 14 so that there will be no auxiliary su ply and the engine mixture will be slightly richer to give the power and pick-up required while the engine, is warming up. When the engine heats up the thermostat control T will also become heated and will gradually open the connection between tube 13 and tube 14 so that there will be no auxiliary supply and the engine mixture will be slightly richer to give the power and pickup required while the engine is warming up. When the engine heats up the thermostat control T will also become heated and will gradually open the connection between pipe 13 and pipe 14 so as to permit the supply of vapor laden air to the manifold provid. ing t e valve V is open, thus gradually leaning the mixture with air containing water vapor until it'reaches the proper ratio to give maximum power and economy. 1

The control valve Vis connected to the throttle control of the engine so as to be open only during the normal range of operation and is closed when the throttle is only slightly open, as at starting and as running idle. This valve V is also closed when the throttle is open beyond the normal running v range, as for instance when. climbing a hill.

The vapor supply is thus automatically limited to the normal range of operation desirable to have as rich a mixture as and is automatically shut off whenever the conditions of operation make it undersirable to supply any auxiliary gas to the mixture.

en the engine is cold for instance it is ssible without any thinning of the auxihary supply and at such time the thermostat.

control T prevents the vapor from reaching the manifold no matter what is the position of the valve V. On the other hand even when the engine is hot 3. thinning of the mlxture 1s undesirable during startlng and at very low throttle openings or when the throttle is wide open and a maximum of power is required; under eitherof these latter conditions the control valve V shuts ofl the vapor supply. The combination of the thermostat control T'and the automatic throttle control V produces a system of regulation which automatically and thermostatically controls the admission of vapor to the mixture in just the right quantities to meet the weather, load, road and speed conditions. The vapor supply to the mixture is thus rendered. completely automatic without any attention whatsoever on the part of the operator. 'It-is only necessary to install the system of this invention and it will operate automatically to supplymoisture to .the mixture whenever this auxiliary supply of moisture will be advan: tageous and it will automatically shut off .the supply whenever it is disadvantageous and at intermediate points it will gradually increase or reduce the supply in exact accordance with the requirements of most efficient operation. s

In the particular system illustrated in the drawings the moisture is drawn from the top of the radiator in the form of'moisture saturated air supplied to the air s ace A" by an inflow of air through the ove ow 11. The pipe 12 is installedin the radiator as illustrated in Fig. 8 simply by drilling a hole through the rear wall ,19 of the radiator and assembling through the sol-derless nickel connection N, The nipple 20 receives the Figs. 6 and 7 and comprises a body 40 and the rotatable valve plug 41 tube 12 at one end and the tube 13 at the other end, the tube ends being flared and packed andsecured in place by the packing nuts 21 at each end of the nip Is as shown.

mostat control is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5 and comprises a. cylindrical bod portion 26 having a connection 27 at eac end to pipes 13 and 14. .end piece 28 atone end is provided wit-ha valve seat 29 cooperating with the thermostatically controlled .valve 30 connected through its stem 31 with the thermostat bellows 32 held in lace at the opposite end of the casing 26. sprin 33 normall holds the bellows 32 compresse and the val ve 30 closed but when the device becomes heated the bellows 32 expands and compresses the spring 31 and opens the valve 30 so as to open the connection from tube '13 to tube 14. The hotter the engine the greater will be the expansion of the bellows 32 and the greater will be the opening of the valve 30 so that thesupply of vapor, saturated air is regulated according to the The greater the heating of the engine. heating of the engine the larger will be the opening of the thermostat valve the greater will be the cooling effect of the vapor laden air drawn through the thermostat, these two factors maintaining at all times a nice balance to determine accurately the degree of opening of the thermostat valve. p Likewise the supply of vapor laden air to the engine tends to cool the engine and the hotter the engine the more of this auxilia supply will be drawn in and the greater wi be its cooling effect.

The valve V :is illustrated in detail in rtion s an opening 42 between the u per port .43 and the lower port 44. The peug 41 carries an adjustable arm 45*oonnec d by link 46 and the adjustable gripping piece 47 to the rod 48 of the throttle control.

tion to the movement ofthe throttle 0011-.

trol rod 48 that when the. throttle is nearly closed the valve plug 41 will be tilted to close 05 the connection between the ports 43 and 44. As the throttle opens the valve 41 will move to open theconneetion between ports 43 and 44 and this connectlon will be maintained so as to supply moisture to the manifold, until 'the throttle control moves to a wide open position such as would be used The parts 45, 46 and 47 are so adjustable with re1a-- for hill climbing and the like. The plug 41 then becomes tilted to the other'side so as to close off the connection between the ports 43 and 44 and shut off the auxiliary supply to the mixture The member S delivering the vapor or vapor laden air to the mixture comprises a tubular portion 47 leading from-the valve to the body portion 48 of generally gasket shape to fit into the fuel supply line conveniently as shown. This body portion has a chamber 49 from which a series of atomizing orifices 50 lead the vapor to the central opening 51 through which passes the fuel mixture on the way to the n'ranifold- While this invention has been shown and described in connection with a specific embodiment it is not limited thereto. The thermostat control, for instance, shows the valve 30 adjustable by the screw thread connection of the valve stem 31 in the head piece 53 holding one end of the bellows 32, the other end of which is held by the disk 54 apertured as indicated at 55 to pass the vapor to the tube 14, and the various parts are assembled so as to be easily put together and taken apart. But it is obvious that other forms of thermostat controls may be used.

The vapor supply may also be drawn from any desired source other than the radiator and the control system of this invention may also be realized where the auxiliary supply of air to the manifold is not especially provided with water vapor.

The system of this invention determines the fuel mixture automatically by control of an auxiliary air supply preferably containing water vapor. This permits the carburettor adjustment such as the needle valve tobe fixed beyond the -controlof the operator while all the various load and weather conditions are met by the automatic variation of the auxiliary supply throughout. a very wide range. Such a control system produces a most accurate and eflicient fuel mixture under all the various conditions met in practice and does so without any conscious at tention on the part of the operator. It has been found impossible in practice to even approximately meet variable conditions of connection and means operation and maintain an efficient mixture by control of the liquid fuel whether said control is by hand or automatic. The constant 'maximum;efliciency with easy start ing of the motor and full required.

I claim:

1. In a system for supplying an auxiliary power whenever gas, to the fuelsupply of an internal com bustion engine having a throttle control the combination with a source of an auxiliary gas, of a connection between said source and said fuel supply, a thermostat control in said connection, a control valve for said for automatically operating saidv valve from the throttle control of said engine, said valve having an open position for positions of the throttle control corresponding to a normal running range and a closed position for positions of the throttle control outside of said normal running range.

2. In a system for supplying moisture to the fuel su ply of an internal combustion engine havmg a throttle control the combination with a radiator'servin as a source of moisture ofa connection tween said radiator and said fuel supply, a thermostatically operated valve for controlling said connection so as todecrease the auxiliary supply of moisture at relatively low temperatures and increase said supply at relatively high temperatures, such thermostat comprising a barrel portion carrying within it a bellows member connected to a'valve member, and a mechanically operated valve for automatically controlling said connection by said-throttle control .of said engine, said mechanically operated valve havingan open positionfor positions of, the throttle control corresponding to a normal running range and a closed i-tion corresponding to other positions 0 said throttle control. 

